Enter SandMan

My Toys of 2008...

2009-01-04T16:51:00.004+08:00

I don't know why, but the blog bug caught me late in the afternoon. Though still not in the mood to go into detail about the happenings in the last few months of 2008, I'll just 'illustrate' the toys I got myself last year...

Soon...

2009-01-04T09:24:00.005+08:00

A'kum guys. Sorry for the long silence. A lot has happened since the last time I posted anything on my blog. Once I get the chance to elaborate, I'll post all the details the soonest. In the mean time, I wish all of you a prosperous 2009.

Death is here!!!

2008-09-12T23:36:00.003+08:00

It has finally arrived. Well for me, it arrived about a week ago. Yes, I admit I was one in a few million that downloaded it over the net. But to redeem myself, I have just set an order for the coffin box set specially shipped from the UK. One thing is for sure... Metallica has redeemed themselves. They are totally back. From what I have listened throughout the past week, they are not trying to imitate what they did in the 80's with the 3 epic albums (lightning, puppets and justice). But what they did with Death Magnetic is basically the 3 epic albums rolled into 1 and revitalised for the present. I totally love the album. All 10 songs to me are solid classics. Excellent job guys, you have again proven that you are the metal lords to beat... \m/

Recuperation can wait...

2008-08-18T22:57:00.005+08:00

I like what I hear. They're back to form. The solos are back. The bass is loud. No more gay drum snares from Lars, and James's voice is top notch. Metallica is back.. Check out one of the new songs from Death Magnetic 'Cyanide' unleashed at this year's Ozzfest in Dallas, Texas. Less than a month to go...

'Death' Track List...

2008-07-25T21:33:00.006+08:00

A'kum all. 2 more months to go and Metallica's latest studio album will be unleashed to the masses. Being a huge fan of theirs, I can't wait what they have in store after the not so brilliant release of 2003, namely St. Anger. Compared to their previous releases, St. Anger is reportedly only have sold 1.87 million copies in the US. I really hope that they won't 'disappoint' this time around. But from I found out, one particular track name in the new album will ring familiar bells to loyalist of the band. 'Unforgiven III' will be one of the tracks listed in the new album. Oh well, the only thing to do now is wait... impatiently though...

Death Magnetic Track list

'That Was Just Your Life'

'The End of The Line'

'Broken, Beat and Scarred'

'The Day That Never Comes'

'All Nightmare Long'

'Cyanide'

'The Unforgiven III'

'The Judas Kiss'

'Suicide and Redemption'

'My Apocalypse'

Gym...

2008-07-22T21:32:00.005+08:00

A'kum all. Three years have passed since I've joined the gym. Back in July 2005, I began my quest for a change at JPMC's gym in Jerudong, I'm currently a happy member at Fitness Zone. Through patience and endurance, I've managed to shed the unnecessary pounds and keep fit along the way. Well keeping fit is now secondary to me, because once I saw the results there was no turning back. Let's just put it this way, I was 110kg when I started off, and now I'm maintaining my weight at 75kg. A word of advise, "Never ever give up!" Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day...

You want to know how i got these scares???

2008-07-20T18:32:00.008+08:00

The best Batman movie ever!!! Well, to me it was.. But from the applause inside the cineplex was a guide to go for, I was not the only one who thought The Dark Knight was THE summer's block buster movie. I was able to convince Mrs. SandMan and the entourage (Luq and Azmi) to catch the sneak show on Wednesday, 16th July at the Q-Lap Mall. Obviously we were not the only ones who had the idea to catch the movie before it opened. Anyways, back to the movie. Where was I? Oh yes... It was Awesome!!! Though 2 and 1/2 hrs long, the minute hand ticked faster than usual. All of us were engulfed with the story line and we wanted more. The cast ensemble was brilliant to say the least. Christian Bale played Batman to perfection. Other 'supporting' actors were non the less excellent in their portrayal of Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Lucious Fox and Harvey Dent respectively. But Heath Ledger's take on the Joker was to die for. Jack Nicholson's Joker in Tim Burton's Batman was good, but this time around the Joker took no prisoners. He was a psychotic anarchist serial killer with a weird sense of humour. Weird being the understatement of the year. As Alfred put it best... "Some people just want to watch the world burn". It is just a sad lost that Heath Ledger is no longer with us. Words are buzzing that the 'people' are considering Heath's performance as the Joker for an Oscar nod. I say, "Give it to him". He deserves it. A 10/10 for The Dark Knight... Guys, dont even think of missing this one...

Daulat Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik...

2008-07-15T21:06:00.004+08:00

Picture taken from here.

A'kum all. It's that time of the year again where all walks of life in Brunei celebrate His Majesty's Birthday. I for one am taking this opportunity to wish His Majesty a Happy Birthday. May Allah bless His Majesty with good health, prosperity and continue to rule our country with wisdom and stability.. Amin

Weekend is here...

2008-07-12T23:02:00.002+08:00

A'kum guys.. Yesh! the weekend is here... For most of us, it is time to reflect and relax from a hectic week at work. Shopping with the family, dinner with friends, dates with girl/boy friends, etc. usually happens during weekends. Oh well, everyone deserves a break... Anyways, hope you guys will have an awesome weekend... mine just begun... *wink*

Lucky...

2008-07-09T23:07:00.002+08:00

Hello all. I know, I know.. It's been quite a while that I've updated the blog. A lot has happened, and I do mean a lot since my 'break' from the blogging world. Anyways, since the blog meter showed a lucky number to some, might as well post it as a special one off update. Tell next time friends... Chao!!!

Perfection...

2008-06-20T22:33:00.005+08:00

The wait is almost over... In the mean time, enjoy Metallica's recent concert at Rock am Ring 2008

David Cook wins...

2008-05-23T17:13:00.006+08:00

After 19 weeks of waiting, the results of this year's American Idol came last night. And as a huge David Cook fan it came as a surprise that he won. Every survey, every vote that I came across through the net all pointed to David 'Archie' to win the finale. Even the judges were on 'Archie's' side on Tuesday's final performances. But hey, I'm not complaining. The better man and singer won. Another high point for me during the finale show was the Gladys Knight's and 'The Pips's never seen before audition. Who on god's earth could have thought of that idea must be a genius. Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert 'Iron Man' Downey Jr.'s dancing antics was just hilarious. Apart from the results, this segment was not to be missed.

Finally, 'Mr' George Michael's performance blew me away. Though having a flu at the time, he managed to mesmerise everyone in the Nokia 7000 seated hall to a stand still. He was able to belt out 'Praying For Time' flawlessly. Rarely do we see Simon Cowell giving a standing ovation, but even he was awed by the performance. Now since American Idol is over, I'm left to ponder what to do on Wednesdays and Thursdays evenings. Oh well, it will start all over again in January 2009. Not holding my breathe though...

Hit me!!!

2008-05-17T21:36:00.002+08:00

Just wanted to share with you guys this new poster from the upcoming Dark Knight movie. The Joker putting on a dual faced make up scheme reflects the direction of the movie is going (hint: coin tossing villain). I just can't wait for July to come around...

I vote for DC...

2008-05-15T21:53:00.005+08:00

A true talent in the making. David Cook has exhibited originality through out this year's American Idol. Good luck David. C!!

Mission:Metallica...

2008-05-13T23:14:00.004+08:00

The countdown has begun... 4 months to the new album and counting...

Yesterday's storm...

2008-05-12T21:40:00.005+08:00

As the saying goes, 'a picture says a thousand words'. Ok, ok since there are 3 pictures, there'll be 3000 words.. hehehe. Yesterday's early evening storm came from no where, and it came as a surprise. One minute it was bright and sunny, another minute it's already dark... Mrs. SandMan went into panic mode as she was in the process of preparing dinner. But as I told her, 'What to do?' It's not like we can just go somewhere and switch off the storm. The only thing we can do is be patient and hope for it to settle down. I've read incidences of flying sign boards in Gadong and a few more in Serusop. Alhamdulillah, in Brunei these 'minor' storms are what we are used to. Unfortunately, other parts of the region are not so lucky. Starting off with the cyclone in Myanmar (100k dead and counting) and the earthquake in China (3k dead and counting). My prayers are with those who are affected...

By the way...

2008-05-11T19:01:00.006+08:00

Wishing all mothers out there, a Happy Mother's Day.. May you all be blessed and showered with all the love in the world. As for my mother, thank you for being there for me. I love you Ma.. and for Babu, I will never ever forget you..

This is my card...

2008-05-11T08:05:00.004+08:00

A'kum all. Just a short one today as I'm still very tired from yesterday's Ulu Temburong visit. Anyways, just want to show you guys one image from one of the most anticipated movies from this summer block buster season. Can you guess who it is?? (such a give away... hehehe)

Always Be My Baby...

2008-05-09T18:41:00.002+08:00

Luq's Birthday...

2008-05-07T17:46:00.008+08:00

Another year passes and its that time again where I pay homage to one of my closest partners in crime, Luq. Happy 30th (you wish you were younger... NOT!!) mat.. a year older a year wiser *wink*. Semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki and capat2 kawin.... oppsss, did I say that out loud?! Anyways, hope you enjoy your special day bro and many happy returns... AMIN...

Update:

Sorry about the surprise mat, but I was sworn to secrecy... But it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, right??? Anyways, Happy Birthday bro...

Productive Saturday...

2008-05-04T16:35:00.008+08:00

Hello friends... What a saturday it turned out to be for yours truly. Don't get me wrong, nothing bad happened or anything. As most you guys now, I'm a Civil & Structural Engineer by profession and have a few ongoing project in the 'pipeline' to over see. One of which is the Development of the National Park in Ulu Temburong. And yesterday was one of those days the other consultants and myself had to do a site visit to Belalong. As usual the day started off early where I had to be in Kianggeh boat depot as early as 730am. Though I was a few minutes late (no thanks to the traffic in Jangsak) everyone else was too. Anyways, the site visit took longer than expected. Hoping to get back to bandar around noon time, I could only get back by 330pm. Had to inform Luq (partner in crime) that I was running a bit late cause we had plans to visit DST road show. Luckily Luq understood and continued with our plans just before 5pm.

Main objective for the roadshow visit was to speed test the GO! broadband hailed by DST to have 7.2Mbps download speed. Expectations were high but (yes there is a but..) it was not to be. 3 kiosks tested, 3 results obtained and average speed was.... 900+ Kbps. Luq and myself was hoping to see at least 3megs on the speed test, but to no avail could only achieve 1.7Mbps on one of tests. Reasons were given by the attending staff member that they are clearing the cache servers and that normal speed will resume shortly. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it is still early days to jump the boat and migrate. We'll see in next few weeks...

Dinner was a totally different affair altogether. I wouldn't say it was subdued, but it was a totally different fun and obviously filling. Mrs. Sandman and myself decided to take my young girlfriends (cousins Adik Nisa and Alai Era) to The Airport Restaurant. The food as usual was excellent. They are currently having the Singapore theme nights until next week. So it was an opportunity for myself to minimise my food cravings. The Kolo Mee and Chili Crab was awesome. Credits to the chef!! The young ones certainly enjoyed their dinner and the smiles on their faces was enough to make my day. I certainly hope that each weekend would be like last night, but we can't expect the same thing every week. However, to spend quality time with Mrs. SandMan after a long day at work was definitely priceless.

Need to get Go! 'ing'...

2008-05-02T19:43:00.006+08:00

Hi all... leave it to me for not listening to what DST had in store. Not being properly connected to the world wide web took its toll about a few weeks ago (E-Speed roadshow) when I took the jump and applied for the unlimited access plan. I've been a happy bunny for the past few weeks, until an advert in the local paper hinted that DST had something huge coming. At that time, all I thought was they were planning to launch their 3G service for the Prima and Easi subscribers. But little did I know, it was something more special than that. Not until recently, about a week ago did most of us find out that DST are launching their all new GO! broadband service nationwide. And did it ever impress... 7.2Mbps on the 'go'!!! Now that is what I call fast surfing. Though the dedicated speed hasn't been proven to reach that fast, but just the thought of being able to surf (downloading movies is the more correct term here...) several times faster than our existing speed is just mind boggling. And the price for unlimited access... BND78!!! Now that is what I call a good deal. But it's still early days for me to jump the boat and migrate to GO! However, the temptation is clearly present to say the least. I'll probably drop by to DST's road show in the next few days and have a feel on how 'reliable' the new service is. Congratulations are however in order for DST in introducing a long awaited competitor into the local broadband service provider market. Healthy competition is always good for both the provider and the consumer. We'll have greater choice, and the providers will always find better and more attractive ways to keep or gain more costumers to join their 'band wagon'. Let the price war begin... Happy days is certainly upon us...

'Starky' Fun..

2008-05-01T20:45:00.004+08:00

A'kum all. It has been quite a while I have reviewed a movie on my blog. Either lack of any good movies released or just lack of good movies (did I say that already?). But hey, last night was the start of this year's summer movie season. And what a start!! A few more to wait for ie. The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones, (Get Smart).... but Iron Man was an excellent start. Robert Downey Jr. played Tony Stark to perfection. He was witty, charming though purposely clumsy at times but when he introduced the suit for the 1st time, it was like being in the comic book itself. It was mesmerising (well, for me it was... nerd alert!!). The Mark III suit was brilliantly translated to the wide screen, with a touch of 'hot rod red', of course. The CGI was flawless, dare I say it... was 'transformers' territory. You'll get engulfed in the story line, the supporting cast was top notch. An almost unidentifiable Jeff Bridges played Tony Stark's business partner. For you guys not in the know, Hogan (Tony's personal driver) was played by the director himself. Anyways, though the ending was a bit predictable but 98% of the movie was wall to wall 'oooooo's and aaaaaa's. All in all, 9/10 from me. Now where's my Audi R8?

THE Blackout...

2008-04-30T18:57:00.006+08:00

Fitness Zone in the dark

A'kum all. About a decade or so ago, electrical black outs (or as we call it.. 'Tutup Karan') is a normal occurrence especially during the festive season. Not a year goes by in the 80's or even early 90's where every time Ramadhan or Hari Raya rolls around, we in Brunei will definitely experience black outs. 10+ years has passed and we rarely have these cut off episodes anymore. Once in a blue moon only then it 'strikes'. But when it happens, it happens with a bang (punt intended). As everyone in greater Brunei Muara district experience last Saturday (26th April 2008) was one day (2 days for some) to remember (or forget?). I was lucky, where I lived everything was fine. The TV was on, air-conditions blasting at high speed... well, you guys get what I mean. It was different in 'Bandar'. Gadong was pitch black, so was Kiulap. And the sad thing was, my whole family had already made plans to celebrate my nephew's birthday in Kiulap. Minutes passed by, hours rolled and still no electricity. The watch was ticking 8.30pm, our guests started to arrive and still no 'lights'. Like it or not, we had to go through with the bash with or in this case without lights. This was a first for me. A whole birthday party (enclosed) in a room for 60 guests and the only thing that we had to brighten our night were tons of candles. Anyways, to make the story short, it was a fun (but dark) evening. My nephew still got his presents, everyone still had a wonderful dinner and BSB was still in the dark when we finished. Though it is not the authorities' fault the black out happened, but in my opinion they should have a 'Plan B' when something like this happens. Maybe they do, maybe they don't... who am I to speculate? Hopefully no one got hurt because of the darkness. Now that would be bad news...

I'm back!!!

2008-04-29T16:59:00.005+08:00

A'kum all.. now that is what I call a long post raya syndrome. My apologies to my readers (if any) that have been waiting (or even longing.. i wish) for updates. To tell you guys the truth, there were a lot of things that contributed to my hiatus to the blogging world. One of which was the internet connection. Oh well, what is in the past has long gone.. I'm off to the gym in a few minutes, so I'll probably update my blog sometime tonight (since ada udah e-speed ani.. hehehe.. kesian ah? ketinggalan zaman) Adios guys, and thank you for your support.

Post Raya Syndrome...

2007-10-26T11:17:00.001+08:00

Assalamualaikum my friends... hope you had a fun and safe raya. Wow, has it been 2 weeks already. Feels just like yesterday that all of us were rushing to do our last minute shopping before the big day. And now, most of us are thinking... why oh why did we have to spend that much?? 'Iatah nama nya belanja setahun sekali ni...' as the Kristal FM BIBD advert clutters in my mind. Speak for yourself buddy, I'm not alone when I say that we don't only go shopping once a year!!! Anyways, that out of my system its back to my Hari Raya tales. 1st off... Hari Raya eve.. Mrs. SandMan was still busy at my in-laws doing her final 'Kek Raya' preparations. As for me, I was busy cleaning the car as no respectable washer would accept any more 'orders'. So it was up to me with my new air compressor... hehehe. Anyways, raya eve was as usual 'meriah'. Who said it was too early to go raya'ing'. As usual, went to my uncle's place just next door as he is now the eldest in the family. Back home around 10pm and started the house compound cleaning. Yup, you read right... It's no fun if you do it any earlier, don't you agree. It won't be raya if you don't do everything last minute. As for previous years, Jame' Asr is the destination for Sembahyang Raya. It just feels grand to sembahyang raya di sana... heheheh.

Anyways, morning raya won't be complete without visiting Babu at her final resting place at Makam Di-Raja in Mile 1. I still miss her... Tears came running down as I recited the Tahlil for Babu and the rest of the family members who had left us. But as the saying goes, Life goes on.... Back from 'kubur', we headed off to my parent's house for 'light' breakfast. Antah ah? Sudah tau inda puasa atu lapar saja tia pulang. But I had to control myself, as it is always on the 1st day of raya you tend to visit the little boys' room the most.. To be fair to Mrs. SandMan, we headed off to my in-laws in the afternoon in Kg. Ayer. Personally, the atmosphere there is more lively and more 'meriah' compared on land. It may be because they are just a very close neet community in Kg. Ayer. Even your next door neighbour visits you on the 1st day. I could go on and on with the Raya thing. But I'll stop di sini dulu. I don't want to go ramble non stop, because you guys might get bored. Anyways, raya is still in the air so I'll post a few more Raya adventures when I get the chance to. For the mean time, enjoy the remaining 2 weeks of raya guys... Next stop for me is the Empire Driving range....

Selamat Hari Raya...

2007-10-11T14:27:00.001+08:00

Assalamualaikum, how time flies when you're having fun. Has it been a month (29 days to be precise) of fasting already? Evidently it is... I'll certainly miss Ramadhan. I don't know how to put it, but there's something in the air when 'Puasa' rolls by. Maybe its the fasting, 'stadiuming', late night gym (and golf) and the Hari Raya shopping. I pray to Allah the Al-Mighty that my family, friends and of course myself be able to enjoy Ramadhan again next year and many more years to come.. InsyaAllah. To all my Muslim visitors, readers or what ever they call blog readers heheheh.... I wish you all Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.... Now its time to 'main badil!!!!!' God help us....

40 years of Majestic Reign...

2007-10-05T11:22:00.000+08:00

Alhamdulillah, today is a day that will be remembered as a milestone in our beloved country as we all celebrate the 40th year His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah ascended the throne. Eventhough the celebrations to commemorate this aupicious occassion is low key (out of respect for the fasting month) but the celebrations are not without its grand scale. Thanks giving prayers were held last night (4th October 2007). With the main focus being held at Jame' Asr Hassanel Bolqiah. However, prior to this, recitation of the holy Quran (Tedarus) have been held for the past couple of days. In my opinion, this is a more suitable way of celebrating His Majesty's 40th anniversary being puasa and all. And by the way, just in case I don't update my blog anytime soon, I wish everyone SELAMAT HARI RAYA, Maaf Zahir Batin... May this year's Hari Raya bring you banyak duit raya and sakit parut hehehe.

Fade, slice, shank...

2007-09-19T13:39:00.000+08:00

You might be wondering what the title has anything to do with my entry.. well, for the most part all of the above are golfing terms... and let me tell you, yesterday's golf round in RBGCC Jerudong exhibited all three. Was it me, my swing or what ever factor contributed to my dismall game yesterday.. I'll never know. But heck, I was someone who could not get the ball to go straight. Out of the 9 holes, the lads (Luq and Azmi) and I played yesterday, I only made 2 fairway hits!! I was in excellent form the night before at the Empire driving range, I even gave Azmi some driving tips. Hmmm.. maybe, just maybe... its Azmi's fault... He took all my golf powers!!! What powers??? hahaha.. I guess I'm just in denial. Oh well, that's golf for you. You might have a good game on 1 day, but you'll have a horrible game the next. Well enough of golf, let's talk about yesterday's sungkai.

My entourage and I went to the nearest sungkai place around RBGCC, which is Jerudong Polo Club. We were there around 6pm, if it were any other place it would be full but Jerudong Polo Club was an exception. The place was, how shall I put this.... empty. We were the 1st ones there. Can it be true? are all Bruneian not eating out during sungkai anymore??? I wish. Soon the patrons came, but not alot though. By the fast break (breakfast sounds like sarapan pagi to me hehehe) there were only about 20 people (us included) there. What was wrong, we wondered.... The ambiounce was great, the food above expectations... the price reasonable.... Finally it all came to mind... no marketing. That was what all of us thought. I had trouble even finding the phone number for the club. No advert in the papers, not even a mention on the radio. What a pity, dare I say it... The food was much better than Empire's... there I said it.. hehehe. Choices range from a hot plate station (this was awesome), rojak, noodle station, ambuyat, ambeng rice, etc. For $19/pax and a place like this, I really thought that this was a bargain. They even have sahur buffet priced at $12/pax from 10pm till 1am. I might bring the missus out for sahur one of these days. One of these days!!?? I'll probably take her out tonight... As I said, I am on a mission... a mission to gain weight... NOT!!!

We got 'Wii'ed...

2007-09-17T14:26:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum guys... hope your Ramadhan is going well. As for me, tried my luck on a round of golf last Saturday at RBA Golf Course. All in all, wasn't very tiring as anticipated, maybe the weather had a hand in it... it was a mellow day, a perfect day for golf. Alhamdulillah, was able to 'hold on' to the fast till dusk and had an overkill sungkai session with Luq and Azmi at the Airport Restaurant. The food as usual was excellent. I would say the price of B$24/pax is worth every penny. An assortment of choices was provided, nganya inda cukup parut kan makan... hehehe.

Anyways, the golf didn't stop there. We had another round of 18 holes yesterday.. well virtually to be exact. As the title precisely says... we got 'Wii'ed!!! Azmi just got his hand on the PS3 beater... Nintendo Wii. It was quiet a surprise how the game play turned out to be. All this while most of us are used to sitting still with a controller doing the movements. Oh no, not with this baby... We tried our hands on boxing, tennis... and the 'piece de resistance' (lurus kah tu?? ;D) was Tiger Wood's 2007 PGA Tour Golf Game. Yup, even in the virtual world I was able to beat Luq and Azmi hands down... heheheh. Sorry guys, I was on a role kemarin atu. Even now I'm still feeling the twitch to make a virtual swing. Hey guys at Nintendo... I AM SOLD!!! I want one... well maybe after Raya...

Anyways, sungkai yesterday was another 'eating out' affair. Mrs. SandMan and I went to Empire Hotel to try out their Sungkai promotion. Hmmmm, I wouldn't say it was the best or maybe it was just me. But personally, I prefer the food at Airport Restaurant. I don't know why but the choice of food there is more suited to my taste buds compared to the one at The Atrium. Oh well, in the end the day I was full from all the food. I wonder, whether I'll lose or gain weight during the fasting month.. It is already evident its the latter rather than the former.... Need to go to the gym...

Ramadhan is here...

2007-09-14T10:42:00.000+08:00

Alhamdullillah, another year has gone and Ramadhan Al-Mubarak is upon us once more. For me, this is the one month (besides from Syawal) that I look forward to. Comes the terawih prayers, tedarus heard from mosques and of course the long day fasting. Not that I'm complaining or anything, this is a good chance to lose those unwanted few kilos from the tummy heheheh. New baju melayu has been sent and expecting to be done by 1st week of October. Decided to be early this year, 'baik jua dih... nya orang kitani'. Went shopping with the Missus, my auntie and mum yesterday. They went nuts on me with the Bonia begs and shoes, but hey I don't mind. Its the only time that I get to spoil my three most important and loved people in this world. This out of the way, I can now concentrate on my own preparations for the month of Syawal (hmm, baru jua sehari dua puasa, udah tia kan raya!!! hahahah). Well, I guess the little kid in me is still excited for the upcoming Hari Raya. But, the one person I miss the most is my late grand mother. Its been 6 years you left this world to be by The Al-Mighty's side, but not a day has gone by without me thinking of you.. Babu, I love and miss you so much.. Al-Fatihah

So I Lied...

2007-09-05T14:56:00.000+08:00

Birthday wishes to one of my best mates in the world, Mr. Azmi (have to call him that since he passed his recent exam). We had a blast last week at Airport Restaurant, well at least it was fun for Luq and me. Azmi's face when he saw it was his birthday cake brought out by the restaurant staff was priceless. Sorry mat, we could not help ourselves to surprise you last week.. heheheh. I just hope you'll forget our birthdays next year. As you said, ' revenge is going to be sweet!!!'. I hope he knows that he is more than a friend to us (do I sound gay?? I hope not!!), more like a 'small' brother (phew, good save). The inner circle would not be complete without him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAT!!!

I'm a man of my word!!!

2007-08-07T14:43:00.000+08:00

Handover...

2007-08-02T11:39:00.000+08:00

Hi... Bahapa u? Heh?!! where the hell did that come from?? hehehe... Anyways, just a short post as I've been quiet busy with the preparation of the official handover of Pusat Pemulihan Belia in Subok scheduled at 1330 hrs. InsyaAllah, if everything goes to plan the Honourable Permenant Secretary of The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport will be in attendance to officiate the handover. Two plus years in the making and the centre is finally ready to be handed over to JAPEM. Costing at an extimated B$17 million to built, construction began late 2004 and completed in November last year. This rehab centre in all its glory will be able to house a total of 300 occupants. Amnities such as a multi-purpose hall, dining hall, dormitories, classrooms, 2 suraus, etc. are some of the buildings comprised in the complex. Me being the Civil and Structural Engineer for the project, am very proud of it. Who says locals can't design such things?? Pics of the handover will be posted shortly... And by the way, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows was wicked. The story twist just blew me away. Was able to 'siap' ready the book last Saturday and after reading it I was left 'spellbound' (punt intended) with what JK Rowling came up for the last installment. 9/10 rating from me... EXPELLIAMUS!!

Deathly Hallows...

2007-07-27T11:14:00.000+08:00

Hey guys.. As i said from yesterday's post, I'm almost done reading the last installment of the Harry Potter series. About a hundred pages to go and I'll be done. To tell you the truth, this will be the 1st ever book I plan to finish (hopefully) reading in my 30 years alive on this earth. Review so far, it is more than expected. People dying all round, curses thrown, dragons flying, etc. is all there in the book. But until I finish reading it, hopefully by this weekend I won't be able to give a full review. However, for those who wants to find out the greatest moments in the book, you guys can read HERE (Note: SPOILERS!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)

Pirates of Ban 4...

2007-07-26T14:08:00.000+08:00

A'kum all... I know, I know... it's been a while I've updated my blog. It has been a very hectic 2 months for me. Tender preperations for Package C and D for Ulu Temburong has kept me away from my beloved blog. Anyways, I wont bore you with the details, just take my word for it. Ok, the reason for this update.. the heavy rain last night. From the Gaile force winds on Monday evening, to lastnight's heavy down pour have affected me in some way or the other. But lastnight hit me big time... FLASH FLOOD at home!!! Yup, you read right... I've been up all night expecting the worst, and it all came true when me and the missus woke up to get ready for work. One look outside our bedroom window, law and behold... our house has been surrended with water... We were stranded on our very own island with no way to out. No more drain or small stream along the road, the road is the 'sungai'!!! Blimey, the last time this happened was 4 years ago. Hmmm, I thought the relevant authorities have upgraded all the drainage system within our vicinity and evidently it didn't work... As you guys can see from the pics, even my nephews were taking the day off from school 'enjoying' the sight of water all around them. I can't blame them, I had the same excitement when I was their age.. even older than them I was still splashing around the parking lot whenever we had flash floods at home. Anyways, back to the update... Alot has happended wihthin the life of SandMan, watched tons of movies, the MacBook Pro has been refreshed (pending stock availability... sigh), got my hands on the new Nokia E90, eyeing on a new sportsbike and I'm currently reading the last installment of Harry Potter. All will be elaborated further within my next update... Looking at the bright side, I'm off from work today... But, in the meantime..... all I can see is WATER...

Smiley Face

Site Inspection...

2007-05-24T16:20:00.000+08:00

Hiya guys, just wanted to share this pic with you all. This was taken a few weeks back when The Director of Development, PWD (Front row-6th from the right) held a site inspection to one of our firm's project in Subok.

Autobots! Transform...

2007-05-23T13:27:00.000+08:00

Thank Allah for HM's safety

2007-05-22T14:55:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum guys. The title says it all. Click here to read more.

Sunday golf...

2007-05-21T13:24:00.000+08:00

Royal Brunei Golf and Country Club

A bit to the left I suppose

Hey guys, hope you had a wicked weekend. Either be it watching the AF5 finale or the FA cup finals. Congrates to all Chelsea fans for their win, and to Man U fans.. good luck next year. As for me, after a few months of hiatus playing golf in RBGCC, my entourage and I had a go at the 'hardest' course in Brunei yesterday afternoon. All in all, everyone performed to par (no punt intended). The best part of all was the weather. Luq keep stressing that the weather was perfect for golf, however our swings were not hehehe. We were there to give Luq support for his upcoming Lexus Invitational this sunday at the same course. Good luck to you bro, if yesterday was to go by i think you will do just fine. Azmi on the other hand, has improved dramatically from 6 months ago. Straight shots all round.. well done bro!! For yours truly, some minor adjustments are in order. I just hope the upcoming pro lessons can rectify the faults. Golf, as one of our local bloggers has put it is 'A Good Walk Spoiled'.

Update...

2007-05-19T11:36:00.000+08:00

Assalamualikum guys... Sorry for not posting sooner, but I just didn't have the blogger's bug compared to earlier in the month. Anyways, played in the World Water Day Golf Tournament last Sunday at RBA Golf Club. And to say the least, my game... how shall I put this, was... CRAP!!! heheheh... Well, nothing to worry about, all in the name of fun. Over in the tech world, Apple has finally updated it MacBook laptops with faster speed CPU and bigger HD's. In my opinion this is a minimal update, since they left out Intel's Centrino Pro into the new releases. Oh well, I'm still waiting for the MacBook Pros to be updated (inda pulang lagi tahan ni masa ani... lama jua eh!!!). Another to watch out is Nokia's E90 Communicator which is scheduled to be shipped sometime next month. Got to find out this info while checking out the news and found out an avid fan in Indonesia purchased the very first unit for US$5,000. Yep, you read it right... US$5,000!!! Sadang-sadang jua inda sabar kan tedapat hahahah. To sign off, wishing you guys a fun weekend and wishing myself an advance birthday... oh wait, 10 days to go for that...

Smiley Face

Jobs vs. Gates

2007-05-15T12:59:00.001+08:00

Need I say more...

2007-05-10T14:51:00.000+08:00

Patiently waiting...

2007-05-10T09:14:00.000+08:00

Morning fellas... Nothing much to do at work this morning (ahh, its good to be the boss) so made the most of it by surfing the web. The daily essentials for me lately have been finding out our local, entertainment and last but not least anything Apple. Well, Apple Inc. to be exact... I've been patiently waiting to get my hands on a new laptop for quiet some time now, and I have my eye on the MacBook Pro since Apple released Boot Camp. There have been tons of reasons why I have hold off my purchase, one of them being the release of Mac's new OS, aka Leopard. And now I've added another reason to wait. Santa Rosa, aka Centrino Pro from Intel. Intel has claimed that this next generation of Core 2 Duo chip will improve battery life and also graphics capabilities. Well, only time will tell... Lenovo, LG, Sony, Asus, lalala.. have all released details of their Santa Rosa (RS) based lappies. Rumours are out like wild fire about Apple's offering being announced at their annual WWDC scheduled in June. I just hope that these rumours are right (you can never tell, but you never know...). MacBook Pros with SR Core 2 Duo, LED screens, bigger HD, better GPU, etc. are all the ramblings of a tech geck (me included). Luq (bless him) have put up with me for the past 6 months with my rants of why Apple is this, why it is that... Hmm, the saying is right.. If you can't beat them, join them... Now, even he is 'patiently' waiting to get his hands on a revamped or at least updated MBP. Sabar bro, we will get our hands on our precious!!! Unlike our 'fren' yang ada udah atu, screw him!!! He will soon find out the true power of the dark side (too much Star Wars reruns lately.. heheh). Anyways, in my opinion its been quiet a while that Apple has released updates for anything in their product line ie. iMac, mini, iPod, etc.

(Artist impression of 6th Generation iPod)

And oh yeah,speaking of iPod, there are rumours that a new touch screen (6G-iPod) will be announced soon. These are all speculations, but for an Apple fan, these are all the news we live for.. Ooo... my bank account will take a beating very very soon.. Ouch... Gracias!!!
Smiley Face

Wii.. No.. Gracias...

2007-05-08T08:38:00.000+08:00

Morning guys, had the blog bug this morning so decided to post the earliest entry ever in the the domain's history.. (ooo such dramatics hahaha). Anyways, me and the missus had a quiet (not so) night in watching Mr. Bean's Holiday on DVD. Failing to watch it on the big scene when it was shown here, it was a long overdue screning for the both of us. The wait was shall we say.... very very worth the while. Rowan Atkinson was back to his best as the oddly mannered mumbling Mr. Bean. New and old revamped jokes were available throughout the movie. The old jokes were all but predictable but the new ones.. good heavens we were both laughing like hell hahaha... From the highway slow bike scene to the sleepy Bean in the Mini they were all hilarious. And not to forget Bean's rendition of a French opera singer somewhere in a quiet village in the Southern of France. It was a pleasent surprise and reminded on how funny Rowan Atkinson was and still is... So guys, don't miss out on this movie.. I guarantee you, you'll be pleasently surprised.. Gracias!!! (Note: The above review will only apply to fans of Mr. Bean heheheh)

Spidey 3...

2007-05-07T15:25:00.000+08:00

It's been quite a while I've caught anything on the big screen, but last Saturday had a chance to watch Spiderman 3 (free tickets from InComm heheh)at The Empire Cinema. Expectations were high as the last Spidey movie was considered by many as the BEST comic book movie of all time. However, this time around it was a bit of a dissapointment. I'm not saying that it was a total mess, there were good CGI to go around and of course Venom was awesome. But 3 villains in a movie? Its too much to take even for me a comic fan boy. In my opinion, there were to many characters to concentrate on. With Peter/Spiderman trying his hands on being 'cool' (due to the symbiote), Mary Jane frustrated on her broadway carrier, Harry (New Goblin) going mental/revenge over the death of his father, Flint Marko (Sandman) trying to live with himself caused by the mistakes that he had done, Eddie Brock (Venom) being to the 'professional' photographer at the Buggle.... I can go on and on and on and on about the plot.. Action scenes were far apart, making me uneasy in my seat waiting for the next fight scene from the ample villains that we have in the movie. Leaving the cineplex I had the same feeling as I had after watching Superman Returns.. unsatisfied.. But hey who am I to say, Spiderman 3 will undoubtebly succeed at the box office (US$148 million over the weekend). However, we won't see many people return to the cinema to watch it twice as many did for Spiderman 2. All in all, 5/10 for the movie and 9.5/10 for VENOM!!!

Happy Birthday bro...

2007-05-07T15:07:00.000+08:00

Wishing one of my best bro/cuz/partner in crime a Happy Birthday. May you live long and prosper.. hmmm, sounds like a Vulcan... lets try this one, may the force be with you... hmm, macam Star Wars tia pulang.. how about this one? Finally we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi, finally we will have revenge.. heh!? what the hell am I blabbering about.. Anyways, Happy Birthday bro

Smiley Face

More than meets the eye...

2007-05-02T15:56:00.000+08:00

My DNA, Visually?...

2007-05-01T09:55:00.000+08:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

A month later...

2007-04-24T11:38:00.000+08:00

Well hello blog.. how have you been? How long has it been? what? a month?? heheh.. sorry for that guys, I have been very buzy for the past month or so with work and other stuff.. Anyways, life has been so so loh.. As of my previous 2 post, I went to Bangkok with the missus and I was right!! She did went 'nuts' with the shopping, but I don't blame her though.. siapa yang membawa ke sana? sendiri tangung lah heheheh. Anyways, I'll post our 'honeymoon' pics as soon as I upload them. Other than that, SandMan's life have been the usual stuff.. eat, sleep, gym, golf.. eat, sleep, gym, golf.. I hope you guys had a more productive month than I did... chao peeps. And by the way, what the hell is Apple thinking by delaying the launch of Leopard till October?!! Haven't you guys punished me enough by launching the iPhone here only next year!! Oh well, just had to get that out of my system
Smiley Face

Alhamdullillah...

2007-03-22T11:43:00.000+08:00

A'kum guys.. I'll take this opportunity to send my congratulatory message to our Royal Couple (His Royal Highness The Crown Prince and Her Royal Highness Princess Sarah) on their new born son, YTMPM ‘Abdul Muntaqim. Alhamdullillah, it is an auspicious occasion for our beloved country that the future heir to the throne is with us. May Allah S.W.T bless His Majesty The Sultan and The Royal Family with prosperity and good health in the many years to come.. AMIN.. (Photo Courtesy: Hj Md Yusof of Infofoto)

sa nook jang leeuy...

2007-03-19T10:36:00.000+08:00

Waiting in line for Imigration check upon arrival

Chatuchak Market

Mah Boon Krong

Luq doing his usual bargaining

Ahhh... Zen..

'Original' Golf shirts

Hey guys, just got back from the long overdue Bangkok trip yesterday evening. My flight to Bangkok was on schedule (thank god) however we were delayed for our return flight back. But this time it was because of some 'security' check. Kudos to Captain Kleeman for his up to the minute update of the situation. Ok, back to the trip.. One word comes to mind... AWESOME!!! The newly opened, Suvarnabhumi Airport was impressive. 1st thought when we walked out of the aircraft was that the airport was still in the final completion stage but was impressive non the less. If you haven't been there, imagine KLIA but 4 times bigger. No golf this time as my cuz didn't bother to pack his golf set, but to compensate we went shopping crazy last Saturday. Went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market in the morning, and MBK in the afternoon. Due to the hectic 'shopping schedule' that we had, we didn't had time to go to other places ie. Siam Square, Siam Paragon, Central World Plaza, Thaniya Plaza (Golf Heaven heheh), etc. Luq went crazy when he finally got his hands on his car's head lights and other accessories in MBK. Had lunch in Zen Japanese Restaurant. The food was excellent as usual. Had my usual order of King Prawn Set Meal, and I had to say that I totally 'pigged out' while there. The one thing I don't want to look at is my weight after the weekend...hehehe. Went to Pat Pong in the evening to get some golf shirts and a few other 'original' items you can get your hands on there. A visit to Pat Pong is never complete without the traditional 'lepak' at the nearby Starbucks. Why oh why, hasn't anyone opened a Starbucks here, only god knows. I miss the Chocolate muffins already hahaha.. Anyways, no use crying over spilled milk... All in all, it was a terrific weekend with the usual empty wallets when you get back home. No worries, I'll be back to 'The Land of Smiles' in a fortnight, but this time the missus is coming along. All I know is, she has her eyes set on revenge.. Revenge to shop till she drops that is... hehehe.. Sorry Sayang, just had to say it..

007...

2007-03-08T10:26:00.000+08:00

Morning guys, was on the web reading through google news when I saw this article. Just wanted to share it with you. Prof Rob Jenkins, of the University of Glasgow, and Prof Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, have employed a technique known as prototyping to produce a computer generated image of the perfect James Bond. In 1961 Fleming listed several Hollywood actors that he thought had the right facial characteristics to play Bond. Actors such as Cary Grant, David Niven, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton and Stewart Granger were named by Ian Flemming as the the 'perfect' Bond. Looking at the picture, the 'guy' doesn't come close to any of the actors from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig who have played the suave spy through out the years. He looks more like Marlon Brando from the original Superman (1978) movie when he played Jor-El (Superman's biological father). Antah ah? what do you guys think?

Summary...

2007-03-07T15:37:00.000+08:00

A'kum guys.. has it been 2 weeks (again..) since my last post. Antah ah? I just wonder who would ever want to read my blog.. heheh. Anyways, just wanted to update you guys on the happenings in SandMan's life for the past 2 weeks. As usual we start with golf (yawnnn). Had the chance to play in Miri (Eastwood Golf Course) and RBA Golf Course on 23rd and 24th February respectively (way to be patriotic mate hehehe). To my surprise, Eastwood Golf Course (EGC) has stay in chalets for those who plan to 'stay and play'. Rates are very affordable, starting from RM295/golfer per night and 18 holes golf game on their course. That's not bad in my opinion ;)

Oh before I forget, the handover of Packages A and B for Taman Negara Ulu Temburong was held on the 1st of March. Though it was a low key function held at the Forestry Department, everything went smoothly, Alhamdullillah. There to oficiate the handover was the Director of Forestry, Director of Developement (PWD) and the Project Consultant Team (Arkitek Bersatu, Adwan and Associates, Hamzah Hassan Consultant and Juruukur Bahan Utama - DLS). As from what I gather during the handover, there is a plan set out by Forestry Department to privatise the National Park. A good and smart move from them, with good marketing and branding hopefully our 'invisible' National Park will be a great asset to our tourism industry. Me and Mrs. SandMan got to celebrate our 6th year of our blessed union on the 4th of March. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SAYANG.. I know I haven't been the perfect husband, but you know that you are the one and only for me :) Thank you for being there, through thick and thin, happiness and grivience... I LOVE YOU.. Speaking of which, Congrajulations are in order for our very own 'celebrity' DJ Jenny of Kristal FM for her wedding on the same day. May you live happily ever after with you beloved hubby. And finally, just got word form RBA that our tickets from last month (alum tah abis2 nya) have been reissued FOC.. WICKED!!! I don't want to jinx it this time around. I'll just wait to get there and back before I say anything more on the matter hehehe. Hope you guys had a good 2 weeks behind you, with the 23rd National Day Celebrations, Chinese New year and anything in between... NOTE TO SELF: DON'T WAIT 2 WEEKS TO UPDATE YOUR BLOG.. PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING THEM :)

How you doin?

2007-02-20T15:12:00.000+08:00

Eddie Murphy getting married to himself?? What is the world coming to?? Now that's a sight to be seen.. Wait!! I did see it, last night to be exact. Well, in Norbit anyway.. It's the latest big screen release by the comic veteran. Got to go with the missus and the entourage (my cousin and best mate) along with their 'missus' (Girl Frens lah). High expectations all round from Mrs. SandMan and the rest of the gang. Knowing it to be a 'clone' movie of Nutty Professor 1&2(Mr. Murphy playing multi characters), all of us were waiting to have a great laugh fiesta (lurus kah inda tu spelling nya atu?, ah screw it..). Anyways, 15 minutes into the movie, the laughters came but not as often as we have expected. 3/4 through the movie I had a thought.. was it a comedy or an insult to our gravity challenged friends. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against them (being an obese person a good half of my adult life before I joined the gym), I felt that the comedic scene potrayed through out the movie is too demeaning. Even the rest of the gang agreed with me, getting laughs from other people's problem is not a good night out. All in all, 4/10 for the movie. The 1 good thing that came out of the night was that I get to spend it with the people whom I love and are very close to, Mrs. SandMan (love of my life), Luq (my cuz/best mate) and last but not least, Azmi (my other best mate/personal physician). Even though they brought along their 'hand bags' (Girl Frens agi heheh) along (heheh sorry mat..) but me and the missus didn't mind them tagging along. It felt like a triple date... oh yeah, back to the movie.. if you like laughting at other people's expense, watch it.. if not, don't even think of coming close to the cineplex.. even with a 10 feet pole.. One more thing, can't wait to watch Mr. Bean's Holiday though, at least that movie we are laughting with him and not AT him (I hope).. Gracias

You!! Guilty!!

2007-02-20T12:20:00.000+08:00

Had a chance to check out the new cineplex in town (Seri Q-Lap) last Sunday (could have been in Bangkok.. still mad about that) and was quite impressed with the layout. Since this is the first time I ever stepped in the new mall (even though its only a stone throw away from my office), I was very eager to check out the place. 1st impression, it was a small buidling to be called a mall. Antah ah? maybe used to seeing malls being 'big' shooping complexes but Q-Lap mall has all the usual elements of a mall. Descent food court, shops and a supermarket and now a cinema.. Not bad.. Got to watch Ghost Rider there and 2 words comes to mind... AWESOME CGI!!! (well more than 2 words heheh) Not being a great fan of GR, I was a fan by the end of the movie.. or was I just a fan of the movie rather than the character?? Your typical comic book adaptation movie, hard core action, some what love story and the all too familiar 'sex sells' (in the form of Eva Mandes's cleavage) were present. I won't go into details of the movie, but all in all I give a 8.5/10 for the CGI but a 6/10 for the storyline. I have to agree with our very own local celebrity blogger (Rano). Nicholas Cage does not play a cool super hero's alter ego, apart from when he is Ghost Rider and not when he is plain ol' Johnny Blaze. A dare devil stunt man who loves coloured jelly beans and listens to The Carpenters?? Checky I would say, maybe the creators of GR wanted to inject some soul into the character, who knows?? Hey wait a minute? GR does not have a soul, he sold it to the devil... for love... ooooo...

Delayed, Postponed, Cancelled (Part 2)...

2007-02-20T11:35:00.000+08:00

My oh my.. The never ending story of our cancelled trip took a different turn yesterday when my entourage and I (aseh.. heheh) went to RBA Main office to get our cancelled tickets sorted out. With endorsement letter in hand (given by RBA airport office), we were all but happy to go there to get at least our full reimbursement from the airline. However, it was a different story when the 'invisible' supervisor in charge at the main office declined to acknowledge our presence and that an administrative fee of $100 per ticket is still to be levied. Heh?? Was it just me, or the airline was the one who postponed and then cancelled the flight? After a few moments of verbal exchange with the counter staff, we were instructed to go back to RBA Airport office to clarify our letter and take it from there. What??!!! The last time I've checked, we were the paying customers and didn't plan to fly for free!!! Not wanting to make a scene, we reluctantly went back to the airport to sort things out. Upon arriving there, RBA staffs were more helpful and accomandating than the ones in BSB. They acknowledge that the cancelled trip were not our fault (obviously), and we were entitled to get full reimbursement of our tickets.. Thank god for that... In the end of the day, we got what we wanted, but had to 'work' quite hard to get it. My concern, is this an everyday occurance where there are no communication between the 2 offices or is this just a one time thing? I hope it's the latter.... Still very very sadden with RBA at the moment..

Delayed, Postponed, Cancelled...

2007-02-18T12:22:00.001+08:00

Patiently Waiting..

Time stands still

Bus ride to ASMA Hotel Jerudong

Breakfast at ASMA

Me and my big mouth.. Maybe it serves me right, I shouldn't have counted my eggs before they hatched or even before they were laid. As today I was suppose to be on the back nine of the Pine Hurst golf course in Bangkok, but I'm actually on my bed at home in BRUNEI contemplating what might have been. I hope I won't be boring you guys with the details but hey its my blog and I'm gonna write what ever I want (Anger & Frustration speaking there). Yesterday afternoon started off efficiently with my cousin and I went to the money changers to get a hand full of Thai Baht. Checked in around 4pm and back home to freshen up. Back at the airport around 6pm, and was laughing and joking around in our seats by 615pm. 'Eh lama jua wang tani kan take off ani?' my cousin asked. Our flight as 'adequately' explained by the CSO is experiencing some 'recalibration of instruments' and the flight will be 'delayed for a few minutes'. Minutes passed, and it was almost an hour later before we heard any explanation by the cabin crew. Can't blame them though, they were bewildered as much as we were. By 8pm, 70% of the passengers on the flight were getting anxious. Who could blame them? I won't, as I was one of them. More on that later.. '.. The Engineer will require 20 - 30mins to get the parts for the instruments'. What the fuck!!! By this time, every one has lost hope. Things were about to get worst. Next thing that we heard was being asked to disembark. Light refreshments, light dinner and at 10pm were asked to 'enter gate 3 immediately for security check'. Oh yes.. we are actually going to Bangkok. A few minutes later, the unthinkable happened. '... due to technical difficulty, the flight will be estimated to leave TOMORROW' WHAT THE HELL!!!!! No one wanted to leave the departure gate. My cousin went into disarray, my best mate went into bizarro mode and I went to auto pilot heh?? apakan?? What is going on RBA?? Can we get a descent explanation from the ground staff. All they could say was they couldn't promise anything, but the tentative departure time is 12pm today. However, I have to give the ground staff some credit for their way of handling the situation. Even though they were a hand full of passengers who were very very frustrated (I wonder who??? heheh) but the ground staff were able to calm every one down. We were offered to go back home or stay a night in ASMA Hotel in Jerudong. 'Baik tah tani bemalam di sana saja' my cousin stressed. 'Awu eh, sudah tah nda sampai ke Bangkok, at least ampit jua bemalam di hotel' I replyed. At the end of the night, all 3 of us ended up in ASMA Hotel in Jerudong rather than in Bangkok. The more I think of lastnight, the more I'm getting frustrated. To make the story short, this morning woke up with a bit of hope as RBA informed that the flight is 'confirmed' to leave at 12pm today. Oh yes, maybe I can salvage a ruined golf weekend with some shopping for the missus. But it all turned sour as we received word during breakfast that the flight is scheduled to leave at 3pm!!! We came to a consensus to just cancel the trip as we were suppose to return back tomorrow morning. All that adrenaline and anxiety for nothing. Went straigth to the airport to pick up our luggage and get our tickets back. Saw a few familiar faces from the flight and they were dismayed as I was when we saw that even today's flight is CANCELLLED!!!! I won't say that I am a frequent traveller, but have had a fair share of travelling in my 29 years of air travel. But this is the worst experience I have had with our national flight carrier. Kenapa tia RBA ani?? I have always supported RBA, be it travelling to Europe or even regionally. But 1 incident won't deter me from travelling with them. It was a one time accident, but guys (RBA) please and I beg of you, please don't keep your passengers in the dark of what is happening during the delay. I for one would understand it if proper explaination of the situation was given at a much earlier time rather then at distant hourly announcements. So now I'm back home, with thousands of Thai Baht in my wallet and no where to go. Hey wait a minute, Empire Driving Range... hmmmm, interesting.

Slow Day...

2007-02-17T10:43:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, this will be my last entry before my trip to BKK later this evening. Don't know what to pack for a 2 day trip to tell you the truth. However, the missus (bless her) had different things on her mind. Eventhough she's not tagging along, but she is always with me in spirit (or in this case her wish list hehehe). No worries, the most important thing that I must bring is my credit cards then. Looking forward to the golf game tomorrow in Bangkok, hope it doesn't rain though. And then after that, shopping!!! Any how, you guys enjoy your Gong Xi Fa Cai and long weekend.. As for me, I'm getting ready to yell.... BALL!!!!!

Communicate...

2007-02-16T15:53:00.000+08:00

It is finally here, well almost.. The new Nokia Communicator (now called E90). Have been waiting for quite sometime for this model to come out. At 1st glance, i would not say that it's a looker, but with the specs issued by Nokia recently at 3GSM in Barcelona, this bad boy will surely pack a punch. Being a fan of the communicator since the 9210i, I have had 2 previous reincarnation of this series and have to admit that I'm still in love with the previous model. And this 1 is certainly going into my 2007 wish list. All built in, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.. you name it, it has them all. But 1 thing that dissapointed me was the pixels for the camera (3.2M Pix.. only!!!). WTH is Nokia thinking??!! After announcing the N95 (alum agi sampai..) was going to have 5Mp for its built in camera, I was expecting the same for the E90. But hey, you can't have everything. It seems like my wish list for this year is growing by the minute. It started out with just getting a new laptop (Apple Mac Book Pro.. waiting for Leopard to be released), a new Callaway Golf Iron Set (nunggu abis chinese new year sal d Singapore murah heheh) and now the E90. Good heaven's.. How in the world will I finance all these things.. hehe (nya orang brunei, basar awa..) Anyways, as the saying goes, 'If there's a will, there's a way'. In this case it will be, 'If there's a will, there are debts to be paid' hahahah...

Postponed...

2007-02-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

Wow, has it been 2 weeks already. Macam kes malas for the past few weeks. FYI, the handover for the Ulu Temburong Project has been postponed till the 1st or 3rd March 2007. Unfortunately, due to scheduling restrains the Minister of MIPR won't be officiating the handover. In his place will be The Director of Forestry. All the same, it will be an all day event. At this juncture (asih macam official saja bunyinya), I will like to take this opportunity to convey my best wishes to all our Chinese friends in Brunei and all over the world 'Gong Xi Fa Cai'. Hmm, speaking of that, I'll be off to Bangkok tomorrow. Will not be away long, should be back by Monday(hopefully). Reason for going... GOLF!!! Don't get me wrong, we have excellent golf courses here, but I just wanted a change. Last time I played (golf that is heheh) was in PineHurst Golfand Country Club (June 2006). I won't bore you guys with the details, but I will be posting my trip once I get back. In addition (there I go again with the formalities), to all Bruneians, SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI GURU... HEH??? (macam salah haribulan..) what I meant to say was SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI KEBANGSAAN YG KE 23. Kap Khoon Kaap.... (good way to be patriotic dude....)

Twice to KL...

2007-01-30T09:57:00.000+08:00

Just got back from KL yesterday... Last time I was in KL was 3 weeks ago (new year's eve) with the missus, of course. The recent trip was more of a business trip and the outcome was very encouraging. I wont bore you guys with the business part of it, but other than that, the golf game in Bangi Golf Course and the day trip to Genting was awesome!!! Pictures of the trip will be posted the soonest as I have not got time to upload it to the pc.. hehehe. And yes, to up date you guys on the official handover of our very own Taman Negara Ulu Temburong will be held on 10th February 2007. InsyaAllah, if everything goes to plan The Minister of Industry and Primary Resourses himself will officiate the handover. More info as it comes along...

Pretty kuntilanak...

2007-01-21T11:22:00.000+08:00

A long weekend, and nothing else to do.. was able to persuade the missus to watch a 'scary' indon movie showing at the mall... Pontianak or was it Kuntilanak?? going into the movie theatre, it was safe to say that 90% of the audience was expecting the typical pontianak movie that we are used to all these years... Half way through the movie, all expectations changed... from being a dead pregnant usually pretty woman (pontianak), it turned out to be a half horsed skinny pale male (not even good looking!!! heheh). Oh yes, forgot to mention the 2 pretty 'girls' we saw just before the movie.. WTH!!! They were too gorgeous to be true!! Even the missus was surprised of their 'perfection'.. Any how, back to the movie.. All in all, it a so so movie especially with a title that sound close to pontianak.. 4/10 for the movie.. 10/10 for the pretty 'girls' hahahah

Quiet front...

2007-01-17T08:39:00.000+08:00

Hiya guys, sorry for the quiet stint.. With all the functions over the weekend and my site inspection trip to temburong last Monday, I was officially 'knackered'. Anyway, the site inspection to Taman Ulu Negara Ulu Temburong was the prelude to the official hand over tentatively within a few weeks time (mudahan saja heheh). Chalets and a new suspension bridge will be unveiled to the public. Me personally, I hope that the relevant department will do their proper markerting and publicity to expose this magnificant 'treasure' of ours. Further details of the unveiling will be announced as soon as I have more info on them...

Night at the movies...

2007-01-12T08:43:00.000+08:00

After much persuasion by the missus, i agreed to watch Ben Stiller's latest comedy flick last night. As I watched for some 1 and a half hours of comedic antics, one phrase came to mind..."Buleh lah". I have to agree with Jenny's (Kristal FM) review of the movie, it was good but not great. Some parts were predictable and some dragging. Best part: Robin William's take of the USA's '4th' President heheh..... All in all 6.5/10 for the movie

Enter SandMan!!!!

2007-01-11T14:35:00.000+08:00

Hmmm, my 1st ever blog... wicked heheh.. anyways, after a while of soul searching (finally finding it). I have decided to join the blogger's universe. I was quite surprised with the number of local (Bruneian) bloggers and heck, 1 more won't hurt (I hope). The reason for my conversion, anakbrunei and G-ferro are partly to blame.. not that its bad or anything, but I have known these guy from way back when I was an avid chatter in channel (can't find the pound key on my keyboard heheh) Brunei on irc. Well, being a typical Bruneian (not wanting to be left out) its time to join in..